Effective care management is important for care providers, such as loved ones or health care professionals, who look after care receivers, such as the elderly, injured or invalids. Advances in health care have improved the life expectancy and comfort of care receivers. However, similar strides have not been made in the realm of care management. This creates a greater demand upon care providers who are entrusted to ensure the comfort, health and security of care receivers.
Situations can arise where a care provider, such as a loved one or relative, is no longer able to effectively manage the care of their care receiver. For example, providing care for the elderly can become increasingly difficult as the elderly lose independence with age. When the difficulty for care providers to look after their care receivers becomes too burdensome, the responsibility for caring for care receivers is often performed by professionals or specialized care environments such as nursing homes. However, utilization of care professionals and/or specialized care environment can increase the financial cost of care and in some cases the emotional burden of no longer being able to personally take care of a care receiver such as a loved parent, relative or friend.